Cooperatives & public international law: causes and consequences

• Author: Santosh Kumar Padmanabhan
• Pages: 379-391

CAPÍTULO 20

Cooperatives & public international law:

causes and consequences

S K P

Director of Legislation at International Cooperative Alliance (ICA)

Summary: 1. Introduction. 2. Exploring the meaning and scope of Law within the

context of the chapter. 3. Relevance of International Law to Cooperatives.

4. From practice to customary international law. 4.1. Fundamentals. 4.2.

Specific case of cooperatives. 5. Practices and principles of social movements

that have become international law. 6. Legal basis for the creation of COPAC.

7. Two legally binding essential instruments that impact our freedoms of asso-

ciation. 8. Conclusion. 9. Bibliography

1. INTRODUCTION

International law is a set of rules that nations agree upon to govern their

behaviour towards each other. Much of the international law we see today is

a set of highly sophisticated expressions that convey the need to safeguard

human rights, principles of self-determination and sovereignty, and freedoms

related to a secure future through sustainable development, which in

particular is rapidly growing as an inseparable aspect of the foundations of

international law as it has become today. The chapter attempts to present

some of the main points of intersection between cooperatives, as represented

by the International Cooperative Alliance, and public international law, and

aims to be an introduction to the subject rather than an expert account.